Denver City Council Approves Data Center Moratorium
The Denver City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new data center development, driven by community concerns over environmental impacts like air quality, energy, and water consumption. The decision allows the city time to update its land-use laws, with some council members advocating for a permanent ban on such facilities.
The Denver City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new data center development within city limits. This decision stems from significant community opposition, particularly concerning a 600,000-square-foot CoreSite data center project in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, which has raised alarms about air quality, reliance on diesel backup generators, and intensive energy and water usage.
Several council members, including Sarah Parady, Paul Kashmann, Shontel Lewis, and Stacie Gilmore, voiced strong concerns, with some pushing for a complete ban on data centers. Councilmember Parady highlighted the CoreSite project's potential to consume 300 million gallons of water annually and linked data center growth to the rapid expansion of AI, which she suggested the city should actively oppose due to its destructive nature.
The Johnston administration plans to use this moratorium to revise city laws, aiming to establish new regulations for future data center development. A working group, comprising city officials, experts, utility companies, developers, and community members, will be formed to draft policy recommendations, with all options, including a permanent ban, on the table. The moratorium is set to expire in May 2027 but can be extended or shortened. It will not affect projects already permitted, like the initial phase of the CoreSite facility. Councilmembers Kevin Flynn and Darrell Watson noted that current land-use laws are ill-equipped to handle modern data centers, especially given their accelerated technological and resource demands. Efforts at the statehouse to pass data center regulations or incentives recently failed.
Public comment largely favored the moratorium, with speakers like University of Denver professor Benjamin Xie emphasizing the need to prioritize long-term energy, health, and water concerns over short-term economic gains. However, opponents like Daniel Ryley from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Julian Aguilar of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 68 warned of potential negative impacts on business attraction and economic opportunities, advocating for a balanced approach.